A December to Remember

December was a whirlwind, as usual. Here's a little recap of what went down in our little corner of the world. It's a little late for you to do most of these this year, but thankfully Pinterest makes it easy to save for next year!

Our class adopted a less fortunate family this year. The kids brought in gifts and we wrapped them and sent them off with big smiles before we started our party. Upper right: trying to fan an ornament across the rug as a minute to win it game and an impromptu conga line. Bottom row: our ice cream cone candy trees, mini doughnut reindeer and our newest obsession: Factory Balls on ABCYa.com

The kids were busting to open the stockings that we made. Original post here. They were so cute! The notes they wrote to each other were priceless!

I had out some puzzles that I made last year (original post here). Then a couple of my little nuggets asked if they could make their own puzzle! I told them to write the questions and answers they would use and gave them just a little guidance, but they pretty much did it all themselves. They were so excited about it and they just couldn't wait for one of their friends to try it out. I just thought that was so cool. Good thing I had some extra puzzles!

I realized late in the week that I didn't have a parent gift to send home with the kids. We're talking really late, like Thursday late. Luckily a friend suggested this awesome craft from Yvonne Dixon's gingerbread unit! I had never seen this before and they came out a-maaaa-zing! I cut the big circle out on Thursday night, laminated them and then the kids traced and colored the design onto the laminated circle. Then they cut out the whole thing and added a string. This is definitely going to be a yearly tradition!

You know you have a great class when you actually miss them over the break! I had one little guy a bit confused over whether or not he'd still be in 2nd grade when we came back and if I was still going to be his teacher. When I reassured him that I would be, he was pretty excited. Me too, little guy, me too.

Hi Lori :)It's a tradition in my school to adopt a less fortunate family. It's so sweet to see the kids care so much about a family of strangers they'll never meet. It's kind of hard to arrange and keep track of, but so worth it in the end.

Hi julie, Those ornaments really did come out cute. I'll be doing those again for sure.The week before break was the week just after the tragedy at Sandy Hook and I just felt the overwhelming desire to let my kids be kids an have fun, probably a little more than normal. Winter break couldn't have come at a better time. Fresh start in January!

I just saw your melted snowmen! So adorable! What a creative idea for those kiddos who don't get to play in the snow! Don't worry, I'm in MO and we haven't gotten to build a snowman yet either...Amyhttp://3teacherchicks.blogspot.com/2012/12/its-my-birthday-giveaway.html